REVIEWS 

"An Affordable Gravity Racer from the Dark Continent"

MBA - February 2005

Morewood Izimu

Patrick Morewood builds and races downhill bikes in South Africa, where he carried the number one plate for three seasons and was defending national champion last year. Morewood's home and factory are in the small city of Pietermaritzburg- the very same place 2003 World Champion Greg Minnaar hails from- so you can bet we were curious to test a downhill rig that was born and bred in such an obscure and speedy location.

The Morewood Izimu

"Izimu" is the Zulu word for cannibal- a fitting name for a machine that so often is responsible for removing chunks of flesh from its rider. Patrick Morewood did not reinvent the wheel when he developed the Izimu chassis. The single-pivot, elevated chainstay design was born from Morewood's belief that "simple and strong" translate to "rugged and reliable".

Major frame loads are transferred through the massive rectangular downtube. The downtube supports the swingarm and virtually encloses the bottom bracket shell. Gussets and a spine-like shock mount ensure that the headtube can handle any landing that the human body can dish out. The triangulated swingarm has provisions for thru-axle or quick-release axles (150mm width) and also bosses for a floating rear brake assembly. Weldingand construction are as good as it gets. The frame material is 6082 aluminum, which is arguably the best weld able alloy for toughness and strength.

Morewood offers the Izimu in four build levels that range from $3980 to $5800, and also as an $1800 frame only. The frames geometry is right in the middle of today's accepted gravity standards, and the Izimu weighs on the light side of the downhill pack. The stock damper is the Manitou Swinger Coil-6-Way SPV shock that delivers 8.5 inches of rear wheel travel. There is a large and a small frame size and they vary by and inch in the top tube and about the same in the wheelbase. Our test model is the affordable version that runs $3980 in the US from Morewood USA in North Carolina.

Getting Acquainted

Morewood USA set up our entry-level Izimu's chassis cockpit with a mix of quality midlevel downhill parts from Truvativ and Titec. The standout component was a trick-looking carbon fiber chainguide system made by Mark Hopkins Designs. The well spec's Morewood reflects a strong connection to the sport that goes beyond the cost-is-no-object pro-rider circus and into the world of working class warrior.

Descending, South African Style

"Agile" is the best description of the Morewood chassis. Its high-pivot swingarm and stable platform shock make for quick acceleration out of corners. It doesn't waste your leg power with mushy feeling suspension. The Izimu steers easily and only requires a light grip on the bars to carve tight, rough corners, or hold a line through rock gardens. It's moderately low bottom bracket (13.5 inches) keeps the chassis rolling over rougher sections of the race course, but you won't bang the pedals on anything that sticks up higher than a beer can. The Morewood's easy handling quickly earns your confidence.

A series of holes in the Morewood's upper shock mount allows the rider to fine tune the steering geometry by one full degree. Ours was set in the middle position, which checked out at a 65-degree head angle. Such a slack front end should feel cumbersome in tight corners, but the reverse was true. We attribute this to the bikes short, 17.5-inch chainstay length and 44.5-inch wheelbase. Regardless of how the Morewoods magical feel was derived, we liked it. We left the shock in the center position and enjoyed the ride.

Rough Stuff Support

Suspension performance is good but not great. The rear levels almost any bump, fast or slow. The Izimu lands softly on the front or rear tire, and its suspension will remain calm over a series of large hits. The Sherman fork's SPV feature, however, can't respond to small, high-frequency chatter, so you get the sense that the front tire is surfing over the surface unless you consciously push the tire into the dirt. Reducing the SPV chamber pressure to add high-frequency response causes to feel soft in the mid-stroke. The best setup was to run 60psi in the SPV chamber, crank six full turns on the end-stroke adjuster, and run the rear suspension sagged one-third into its travel. This arrangement allows the rider to aggressively weigh the front tire around corners and smash G-outs or square-edged bumps without the need to yank up on the bars.

Push the Izimu round like a BMX or a mountaincross bike and it comes alive. Slam it against the ramp of a jump and it flies. Lean forward and attack stair-steps and its suspension will tame a series of three footers as if they were braking-bumps. Drive the front end deep into a switchback and it will rail around like a ball on a string. The Morewood's chassis responds best to downward pressure at the crank and at the handlebar to get its tires biting, but, through it all, it can be steered with three fingers on each hand.

The Active Option

Without the typical floating rear brake, the Morewood rear suspension stiffens up under braking and skips around. This is typical of all single-pivot rear suspensions to some degree, but thankfully the Izimu's rear end performs better than most in this respect. Many successful down hillers use single-pivot designs, but Morewood encourages its customers to upgrade to the floating brake because he believes the extra level of control the arrangement provides gives the rider more options. If you were planning to compete at national level, we would agree. But, don't bother buying the brake option if you are shuttling because it is a heck of a lot of fun in stock form and the slender torque arm is just one more thing to bend in a crash.

Good and Bad

Technically speaking we were impressed with the performance of the Magura Louise disk brakes. The levers felt comfortable and the stopping performance was powerful without a hint of feeling grabby. Morewood chose Sram X.9 trigger shifters and a matching derailleur. We loved the positive feel and one-thumb shifting action of the trigger shifters, but found that the full-length housing arrangement created excess drag on the system. Perhaps a lower-drag would ease the higher thumb pressure that we had to use to downshift the derailleur.

To end on a more positive note, the Morewood's elevated swingarm and carbon fiber chain guide system made the Izimu the quietest downhill machine that we can remember testing. Pounding a long section of rocks and only hearing the wind, the freewheel, and the sound of the tires contacting the terrain is quite pleasing considering that most gravity bikes sound like broken washing machines.

What we think

Occasionally, old-fashioned simplicity and experience put modern technology to shame. The Morewood Izimu's low-tech chassis and spot-on frame numbers surpassed MBA's expectations for performance and pedaling efficiency. The Izimu is a great choice for full- or part-time downhill racers, and with a double-chainring setup, it would be double the fun for mountain bike parks such as Whistler BC. Morewood's entrance into the US gravity market could not have come at a better time. Rank-and-file riders have been starving for serious iron at an affordable price.

The versatile Izimu is good news from South Africa.